Wild come from behind 7-6 OT win over the Armada
Brooklyn Kalmikov capped a three-point night with the winning goal nearly three minutes into overtime as the Wildcats edged the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, 7-6, Wednesday at Centre d’Excellence Sports Rousseau.
Kalmikov and Maxim Barbashev finished the night with a goal and two assists each while Jonas Taibel added a goal and an assist. Alexis Daniel, Alex Mercier, Connor Olson and Mathis Cloutier also scored. Thomas Darcy and Miles Müller had two assists each.
The Armada scored goals two minutes apart early in the first period and led 2-0 after twenty minutes. The home side made it 3-0 with under eight minutes left in the second, but Moncton answered back before the end of the frame.
With fewer than five minutes remaining in the period, Daniel tipped home a shot from the left point to get the Wildcats on the board. Less than two minutes later, Mercier deposited the rebound of another shot from the left point to make it a 3-2 game after two periods.
Taibel got Moncton back on even terms two minutes into the third period, taking a Kalmikov feed in the a lot and ripping a shot past the blocker of Armada goalie Nicolas Sheehan. Olson gave the Wildcats the lead less than two minutes later with a shot from the left circle that got past Sheehan. Cloutier made it 5-3 for the Wildcats halfway through the period after he took a pass from behind the net on the right side of the crease and snapped it past Sheehan’s glove.
Blainville-Boisbriand cut their deficit to 5-4 a short time later and tied the game again with about two-and-a-half minutes to go.
Barbashev gave Moncton a 6-5 lead with 93 seconds remaining, blasting home a shot from the left circle. But the Armada forced overtime, finding the net with 11.6 seconds left in the third with their net empty and six attackers on the ice.
Blainville-Boisbriand thought they had scored the winner early in the extra period, but it was ruled that Moncton goalie Jonathan Lemieux had been interfered with before the puck went in and the game continued.
Kalmikov’s winner came with just over two minutes left in overtime. Darcy carried the puck down the right wing on 2-on-1 and his pass to Kalmikov instead deflected on goal. Kalmikov corralled the rebound, deked to his left and chipped it home to end the game.
Lemieux earned the win in goal with 21 saves.
